Saturday, June 11, 2016

2014 Grandstand Reading Fightin Phils #15 Tommy Joseph

One Sentence Summary: Two home runs from Tommy Joseph weren't enough to contain the Nationals in this 9-6 win.

What It Means: It continues to not go well for the Phils. Spotted a 4-0 lead early, the Nationals easily battled back to overcome that and then some. At one point, the Nationals had produced nine unanswered runs.

What Happened:Jeremy Hellickson struggled, allowing seven runs on nine hits over six innings. Luis Garcia couldn't stop the Nationals offense either, allowing two more runs in his two innings of work.

Featured Card: Manager Pete Mackanin officially informed Ryan Howard prior to this game that Joseph was the team's regular first baseman going forward. It's hard to argue with this decision, as Joseph is now hitting .323 (21 for 65) in 21 games with seven home runs. Howard is hitting .150 (23 for 153) in 52 games with nine home runs.

Joseph has no mainstream 2016 baseball cards to date, but that's sure to change with some of the upcoming summer and fall releases. His sole 2015 baseball card can be found in the IronPigs team issued set and his only 2014 baseball card (shown here) is from the 2014 Reading Fightin Phils team set.

Transaction: As expected, Vince Velasquez landed on the 15-day disabled list with his biceps injury, and the Phillies will need a starter (reported to be Zach Eflin) to take his place in the rotation on Tuesday. Reliever Garcia was recalled from Lehigh Valley to temporarily take Velasquez's spot on the roster.

Recently added to The Phillies Room - 2016 Season Summary page with game results and links to game summary posts.